Reveal To Paris
by WanderlustandFreedom
Summary: An unnamed akuma uses deductive reasoning and process of elimination to reveal Marinette's alternate identity in front of all of Paris. After several weeks of overexcited fans and death threats, Marinette and Chat Noir finally catch up with each other.


**This is just a little idea I've had for a while now. Oneshotter, standard square pairing, unbeta-ed with basic grammar checking. Marinette may be a little quieter than her canon character. I think I matched Adrien pretty well. Please leave a short review to give me advice on my writing.**

 **Miraculous Ladybug is not associated with me in any way, shape, or form. I do not claim any hold over the franchise or their universe.**

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The original translation was disorientating. Marinette was walking up the sun-warmed steps to the school, talking to Alya with their backpacks slung over their shoulders. She blinked – literally – and the world changed around her. She was so shocked she tripped over nothing and Alya had to help her up.

Their surroundings had changed from the school steps to a very large, expansive, white, spherical containment chamber. Which, if her assumptions were correct, contained all the citizens of Paris. Everyone seemed as disorientated as she did. While she didn't recognize a majority of the crowd, there were nearby faces whom she knew very well.

"Kim! Ivan! Nino! Adrien!" Alya yelled and waved to their classmates. Marinette's fingers itched toward her purse. Akuma… akuma… akuma. This entire place was screaming it. She followed Alya to their friends. More familiar faces began to surface. Alix, Sabrina, Nathaniel, and Rose. They must have been transported by area… that would mean her parents would be close too. She needed to find a place to transform… but there appeared to be nowhere.

"Where are we?" Nino asked.

"Some sort of white bubble," Alya responded. She was right. The place was like a white bubble, with the ceiling towering at least a half-mile above their heads and made of the same material as the floor. Marinette tapped her foot. It made a sound like glass or a polished granite countertop. Or a screen.

Far above their heads, the ceiling came to life. Everyone in Paris gasped and many pointed upwards. The formerly white surface was now made up of thousands and thousands of squares. There were two halves. One half moved. The squares in that half were bigger than the second half. They showed the crowd inside the bubble, occasionally switching to view them from different angles. The second half, though much smaller, was made up of faces. Thousands and thousands of faces.

Marinette's blood felt like ice. There was nowhere to transform. Even if she managed to hide from the hidden cameras in the crowd, it would be literally impossible to transform without at least thirty people witnessing it.

She could hear Chloe screaming nearby. Her hand hovered on her purse, but she couldn't open it to consult Tikki without Alya or Nino or – even worse – Adrien noticing.

"It's obviously an Akuma," Alya announced. Her weapon of choice – a smartphone with an optional portable charger – was already equipped and in-use. Marinette smiled weakly at the camera.

"Yeah, it must be." Marinette agreed. "Question is, who are they, and what are they doing?"

"Well, it looks like all of Paris is here." Adrien speculated with a furrowed brow. "That means Ladybug and Chat Noir are either in here with us – or they're trapped away from the city and we're being held as bait."

Marinette's internal sensory organs melted away to reveal a black-hole of worries sucking away at her very being. She got the very bad feeling that this was a new strategy of Hawkmoth's – one she would hate.

The room seemed to hum. It got quiet, which was very strange considering the entirety of Paris was crammed into one very large space. Marinette wondered if this space even existed in their plane of existence anymore – or if this new Akuma had created a pocket of space to imprison them in. Like Pixelator or Timebreaker.

"Welcome." A disembodied, vaguely female voice said from the floor. "I am Synthase. Please hold while we locate Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Locate Ladybug and Chat Noir?

"If you will direct your attention to the ceiling," Synthase continued in a monotonous voice, "You will see our process of elimination as we first find Ladybug and then Chat Noir in the crowd among you."

Marinette's head whipped up faster than if someone had tied her chin to a rocket. The two halves of the ceiling made way to show a blackened silhouette of her ladybug form. Then, Marinette watched as faces flashed by on the screen with red 'X's on their faces. The computer – or Synthase – quickly eliminated all men from the mix. Fifty percent of Paris had been ruled out of being Ladybug in twenty seconds. Marinette swallowed.

Alya was beside her, holding her phone up in ecstasy. "This is great, girl. We may actually find out Ladybug's identity!" Marinette's gut twisted in bitterness. Even though Alya had received the Fox miraculous part-time and had her own secret identity to keep, she was still delighted to discover who her hero was.

"Alya." Marinette hissed. "We need to stop them. We need to figure out a way to keep Synthase from revealing Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities."

"Why?" Alix asked. "It'd be cool to know who they are. I mean, then we'd be able to ask for help all the time. I bet Ladybug is super-cool in real life. Do you think she'd be up to roller-skating with me?" Alix leaned down to pat her wheeled shoes. Above their heads, The computer was examining skin colors. The pool of Parisian people was getting dramatically smaller. After all, she was French-Chinese. Not many people could claim that same heritage.

"Marinette!" Someone called behind her. Before she could turn around, she was lifted off her feet and into the air. "We're so glad we found you!" Tom beamed as he hugged his daughter. Sabine stood beside him, glancing nervously up at the screen.

"I hope Ladybug and Chat Noir show up soon, so we can all go home," Sabine said.

Behind the computer's analysis of who wasn't Ladybug, Marinette could see the pool of 'maybe' people growing smaller and smaller. The ceiling was very expansive, so there were still lots of people, but the photos were getting larger and larger.

"Look, Mrs. Cheng!" Nino called, pointing. "There's you!"

Marinette swallowed as her Mom's picture flashed by with a red 'X'. Beside her photo, before it vanished, the reason 'height' appeared for a few seconds. Other people were eliminated on the causes of 'skin tone', 'scarring', 'disability', 'Akuma victim', and other obvious differences. However, as the computer neared the end of its deductions, it began to slow down. It took more time disapproving every option to make sure it missed no one.

Marinette glanced nervously around. Would she be able to transform while everyone's eyes were on the screen? Probably not, as the magic generated a lot of light. And even if she could transform, the moment she moved people would notice her and realize Marinette had just vanished. On top of all this, the cameras were still rolling, scanning the crowd for any sign of the miraculous.

"Woah, Marinette!" Alya exclaimed, grabbed her best friend's forearm. "You're up there!"

And so she was, surrounded by a number of other people who looked scarily similar to her. What were the chances the computer could make a mistake and pick someone else out as Ladybug?

Adrien was looking up with a straight face, looking riveted but worried. Marinette felt sick. She needed to stop the simulation. How? The ceiling was too far away; she couldn't throw anything or touch it. The Akuma herself had not appeared.

"Fifty options left," Synthase announced. "Please stand by."

Marinette's palms began to sweat.

"They haven't eliminated Marinette yet!" Rose pointed out. "It must be because she's so much like Ladybug, always thinking of others and being so kind and positive!"

Adrien briefly glanced over at her, then looked away as if to dismiss the idea. Marinette wasn't sure whether to be relieved or offended.

If the computer did call her out as Ladybug, was there any chance she could play it off and pretend she wasn't?

Thirty people left. Kagami was up there. Marinette swallowed. She felt Tikki pushing against the inside of her purse as if she didn't already recognize the problem. Someone cleared their throat, and she looked down. A man in a red Hawaiian shirt stood between her and Adrien. Master Fu. Marinette's mouth went dry. She couldn't even remember him walking up.

"Well, this certainly is a pickle." Master Fu said gravely. "I think this might be it for Ladybug's identity. Hopefully Chat Noir can avoid his being revealed and, ahem, protect Ladybug?"

She watched Adrien clench his fist. "I need to find my father or the Gorilla. Otherwise, I'll be grounded later. If I can't find them within the next few minutes, I'll try and make my way back here."

Nino nodded, and he and Adrien shared a fist-bump. "Be safe, bro," Nino said. Adrien disappeared into the crowd.

Twenty people left. She was still up there. Nearby people had started to notice one of the people still on the screen was near them and began to whisper and point. Marinette looked to Master Fu for help. He shook his head in sorrow. She felt the back of her throat burning as everyone began to stare at her.

Fifteen people left. Kagami was eliminated, finally. The reason cited was different eye shapes and lack of personality similarities. Also: Akuma victim.

Three other girls with long, silky hair were eliminated. Hot tears began to well up in Marinette's eyes. Sabine patted her back. "Don't cry, Marinette." She urged. "We know you're not Ladybug. The computer will realize it too."

Some real-time footage was now being used as evidence. They whittled the group down to six individuals with blue eyes, pale skin, black hair, and center parts. Marinette was still up there. She subconsciously began to inch away from her family.

Then five. Then four. Three came, and then there was Marinette and a girl who was almost her doppelganger. Marinette couldn't breathe. The computer drew a red 'X' through the other girl's face and circled her portrait.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Synthase said with prideful relish. "please surrender your miraculous. Your days as Ladybug are over." The cameras centered on her. She took a second to examine her face. She was pale and shaking.

"Wrong girl!" Nino yelled beside her. His voice didn't carry very far though. "We know Marinette."

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng." The computer repeated. Her voice was colder. "Surrender your miraculous. Your days as Ladybug have come to an end."

"I- I don't know what you're talking about," Marinette said. The lights in the chamber darkened.

"Very well." Synthase hissed. A clear sphere formed around Tom and Sabine. It launched them halfway to the ceiling. "Then you will be powerless the watch as I crush your parents." The sphere grew smaller. Tom banged on the glass, but his baker strength could not even phase the glass.

"No!" Marinette screamed. All of Paris's eyes were on her – those stupid cameras were all trained on her. Hot tears ran down her face. Chat Noir. Please let Chat Noir show up.

Tikki nudged her side. Marinette unlatched her clasp. "Tikki, Spots on!" She yelled desperately, and then looked away as she felt the magic suit apply itself to her frame so that she couldn't see the looks on everyone's faces. Alya was filming, all of Paris was witnessing. She grabbed at her hip the exact second she knew her yo-yo would materialize and launched herself at the sphere. She managed to land, but it was slick. She began to slide. The sphere continued shirking. Tom had stopped fighting. He and Sabine stared at her like they were seeing a new person, which they were.

There was no space. Sabine was curled up on Tom's stomach as the glass forced them inward. Sabine closed her eyes and started to cry, Marinette lost her grip and slipped. Below her, Parisians moved, and the floor opened up in the space they vacated. People began to scream.

There was nothing beneath the floor. She was going to fall eternally. She tried to launch her yo-yo toward the sphere, but it was so small it slipped off. She was going to pass through the floor in three, two –

Someone yelled: "Chat Noir!", and a beam of metal appeared beneath her. She caught it with the tips of her fingers and felt it begin to pull her to safety. Chat Noir, green eyes serious and angry, pulled her to her feet once she was close enough.

"Too close." He muttered. "Too close."

Marinette had never been so happy to see her partner.

The ceiling was going crazy and reviewing footage of her transforming and leaping to her parents, who for the moment were safe. Chat Noir's appearance seemed to have thrown Synthase off her beat. The computer had been so busy trying to reveal Ladybug that it hadn't caught a glimpse of Chat Noir. She stared at him. "Did anyone see you?" She asked.

He shook his head. "I transformed under a blanket someone had abandoned. Everyone was too busy looking at you. But we better hurry. The computer may trace who's still in the room versus who was."

Chat Noir summoned his Cataclysm and evaporated the sphere encasing Paris. Synthase screamed, but her powers had been to detain, not to fight. She had no power to stop them. The inky darkness underneath the floor vanished, and they floated down into the area in front of the Mayor's Hotel. Thousands of Parisians piled on top of each other around the hotel. A large circle remained free of people, Marinette and Chat had landed about two feet into the circle, watching people groan and push themselves to their feet. Above their heads, a black butterfly was fluttering away. It must have been in the containment chamber… when Chat used his cataclysm, it must have released the Akuma.

Ladybug opened her yo-yo and launched it. The butterfly vanished inside the case, and she released it. There was no damage that needed to be fixed. She took a deep breath and watched the sun glint off its white wings. Everything was still for about twenty seconds.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" An unfamiliar voice requested. Marinette flinched and turned. A man with dark brown hair and blue eyes was pulling a notepad out of his breast pocket. People were beginning to stand. Marinette swallowed. A short ways away, Tom and Sabine helped each other to their feet, looking at their daughter. The deep lines in their faces screamed betrayal.

People saw her and began to ask questions. "How long have you had your miraculous?" "Who gave it to you?" "Where do you live?"

A shriek echoed from behind the front lines of the crowd. It was Lila Rossi, whose parents were looking on in shock and grabbing their daughter's arms to hold her back. "Ladybug!" She screamed. "I know who you are, and I'll find where you are! You can't hide anymore!"

A microphone was shoved into her mouth. Her teeth rattled in her skull. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng." Nadia Chamack asked. "Would you be willing to do an exclusive interview on the troubles of balancing student life with superhero life?"

"She attends school!" Someone yelled.

"We can't have a schoolgirl guarding our city." An older man with grey hair protested. "She should be in school!" Lots of people nodded their assent. Other began to shout back.

"This girl is our hero! She shouldn't even have to worry about school. Why don't we hand her a diploma right now? She can work for the police from now on!"

"No!" Marinette called. "I can't do that, I have things-"

The microphone was shoved back into her face. "What do you say about that interview, Ladybug?"

Chat Noir put himself between Nadia and her. The circle was quickly disintegrating. She hadn't even seen the Akuma victim. People began to press her from all sides. "Hey, back off!" Chat yelled. Marinette tried to back up, but she ended up falling over a group of citizens. As she struggled back to her feet, one man pinched her thigh. She felt her eyes welling up with tears.

Alya had elbowed her way up to the front. She was filming, Marinette noticed with dismay. "Marinette!" She yelled. "It's true? You really are Ladybug? Why didn't you tell me? I'm your best friend?"

"Ladybug, I run a blog dedicated to your face! Can I be your new best friend?"

"I run one dedicated to your feet!"

"I run one dedicated to-"

"How about that interview, Marinette?" Nadia pressed.

"Back off!" Chat yelled. He extended his baton a little to try and push people away, but they were coming from all sides.

"What's your secret identity, Chat Noir?" Someone screamed.

"I bet he's someone super hot!" A girl yelled in Marinette's ear.

It happened in slow motion. Someone jumped forward and grabbed Chat Noir's zipper. It slid down to mid-chest before he stopped and zipped it back up. Now Chat was mad too. He jumped back to Ladybug's side and hissed at everyone around them. Then he slipped an arm under Marinette's shoulders and she turned to throw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. She felt her stomach stay on the ground as Chat extended his baton and took them into the sky. The crowd continued to yell down below.

She kept her eyes closed as tears began to sting her lids. She felt every thud as he ran along the rooftops, but she couldn't bring herself to care. It was Chat. He'd protect her like he always did.

He took her home and put her in her room. The trapdoor remained open as he ran downstairs. Marinette let her transformation drop and stared numbly at the wall. After several minutes, Chat reappeared. "You okay?" He asked.

The words rolled off her. She stared with wide eyes but couldn't find the inspiration to move.

"Say something." He begged.

She began to cry. Hard. She sobbed and choked and closed her eyes because they felt like they were on fire. After about two continuous minutes of her crying, he stood and began to hug her. Still, the tears continued to spill out of her, and when he left to do damage control ten minutes after that, he left her curled up on her chaise as her kwami rubbed the tears off her face and brought tissues and lotion to her.

It turned out Chat had gone downstairs to lock the doors. Her parents managed to get in through the side door, but the front entrance was blocked by rioters and fans alike. People with large, flashy signs screamed as Tom and Sabine pulled blinds down and turned the 'open' sign to 'closed'. They pulled burned sheets of cookies out of the oven from where they'd been when they'd left premises, and climbed the stairs to demand answers from Marinette, who was in no emotional state to answer to their demands. The phone to the bakery had to be shut off along with all three of the families' phones. Marinette's email, which was published online on the designer's website Alya ran for her, was blowing up by the hundreds. Just before dinner, Marinette's dad turned the TV on downstairs, and Marinette heard an in-depth expert analysis of herself echo up the stairs. Where she lived, who her parents were, where she liked to go, who her friends were, and as much information as anyone could gleam up. Her classmates and teachers got on TV to talk about her, all except Adrien. It was awful.

Marinette's parents peeked in her room before bed to bring her dinner and ask more questions.

"Sweetie, we need to talk," Sabine said quietly.

"What's there to talk about?" Marinette gasped. "I'm Ladybug. Now everyone knows."

She got up the next morning to go to school but couldn't because the hordes of people had camped outside her door, waiting for the bakery to open the next day. Tom called the police, but Marinette still couldn't leave because people hung around the streets and crowded the school. The Mayor came to the door to talk about public statements and rewards for being Ladybug. It didn't make sense to Marinette. They'd never offered her Ladybug Benefits before. Why was it different now? And the Mayor didn't like her because Chloe didn't like her.

Someone who the police directed away from Marinette's home was akumatized and came straight for her house. Ladybug was forced to transform before her home was destroyed.

For three weeks, people left heaping gifts outside Marinette's home and prevented her from going anywhere. People tried to scale the building, break the windows, anything to see her. Police surrounded their home twenty-four seven. Chat Noir was nowhere to be seen. Twice, police tried to escort her to school and back, but school life had become terrible. Everyone talked to her during class to thank her for all the deakumatizations and ask her for autographs. People who were angry Ladybug wasn't who they thought she was would throw things at her as she passed, and after someone threw a poorly-made kitchen bomb five feet far of her group (It didn't blow up), they determined it was for the best she stay home.

Things died down after a long time, but they weren't peaceful. After her parents reopened the shop, people would storm in and try to rush upstairs to find her. Marinette's dad installed a new lock and had the keep the second floor barred off at all times. They pulled Marinette from school and enrolled her in an online homeschool system. Police had to keep surveillance around the house because every time Ladybug made an appearance outside to cleanse or fight an Akuma, death and bomb threats would be issued. People were arrested. The guilt weighed more heavily on Marinette.

Alya posted more on the Ladyblog than she talked to Marinette. These days, it was everything she knew about her best friend, which hurt more than Marinette could express. Alya listed her favorite color, favorite hobbies, favorite subjects, movies, music, everything. The only thing not on there was Marinette's crush on Adrien. It was heart-rendering.

Marinette deleted her website that Alya had made for her and discontinued her email and social media. Things got a little better after that. Eventually, Marinette was able to use her phone again, though she had to block Nadia Chamack's number.

About two months after the initial incident, Nadia and Chat Noir had an exclusive interview, which Marinette watched to support her partner. They talked about her for about half the time he was on the air.

"Chat Noir, what do you think about Ladybug's identity reveal?" Nadia asked.

"It was nice to realize I knew her in real life, I suppose." Chat answered glumly.

"Would you ever consider revealing your true identity?"

"Never." Chat said. He looked into the cameras. "Paris has been relentless in torturing Ladybug about who she is and isn't. She can't go to school, she can't go down the street, she can't even leave her home. And she's not even safe at home. Don't think I'm unaware there are idiots who are trying to mine her house!" He pushed his hands through his hair. "Honestly, I get that you're all excited you know who she is. I would have been excited too, had circumstances been different. But after the 'welcome' you've given her, no. I will never let Paris have my identity. That's something you guys cannot corrupt."

Late that night, Marinette steeled her nerves and climbed up onto her balcony. It felt good to be out of her room. The plants she used to keep up there had been barraged by bb guns and three actual arrows with notes taped on. One note was old and too soggy to be read, the other was a love proclamation, and the last was a warning to get out of their city. Gee, it sure felt great to be appreciated. Two boys on the street yelled and waved to her but stopped when she ignored them. And twelve minutes after his live interview ended, Chat came running along the rooftops. He stopped when he saw her.

"Hey, partner." She said quietly when he batoned himself onto her balcony.

"Hey yourself." He muttered and leaned against the railing beside her.

"I saw your interview."

"It was pretty lousy. I know she's been pestering you, but-"

"How could you have known that?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "I wasn't sure you'd want to see me, but I've been dropping by to talk to your parents about you in civilian form. I was always with a group. So, they won't remember me."

"Glad to know you're chummy with my parents."

"Yeah." He dug his claw into a layer of paint on the balcony. "I'm really sorry. I know how much that secret meant to you."

Marinette exhaled. "Yeah. Not the way I imagined you figuring me out."

"Hard to believe you imagined me figuring you out at all." Chat said bitterly.

"Hey, now." Marinette frowned. "Of course, I did. I wasn't going to hide forever. I was just hoping we could defeat Hawkmoth first. Course, that worked out really well. Now every single Akuma wants to crush my house and hold my parent's hostage."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault."

"I know, but I wish I could have done more." He sighed. "I feel really guilty because I used your big reveal to cover up my own transformation."

Marinette laid a hand on his forearm. "At least one of us is still protected."

"Yeah… I know I've always been all about knowing who you are, but after seeing everything you've gone through I feel really bad for always pressuring you to tell me. Can you forgive me that?"

"Of course, Chaton. You were always a curious kitten."

Chat chuckled without humor and stood up. "It's just… all the paparazzi and threats to you have made me realize I like the anonymity a lot more than I realized. I mean, I have it pretty bad too in both of my lives but…"

"Oh? Do I have a famous kitty? Perhaps you're the star of those cats vs cucumbers youtube videos?" Marinette laughed. "Or possibly the cats on catnip ones?"

"Didn't know you were so interested, m'lady?" He quipped back and nudged her shoulder. "Point is, this whole thing has made me a lot cautious. I feel really back and wish I could have done more, but a part of me is really glad that-" He choked. "It's not-"

"You." Marinette finished for him. She totally understood. If this had happened to Chat, she would have felt awful for him but would have been grateful her family didn't know.

"Yeah." Chat agreed guiltily. "I'm sorry if that sounds bad or selfish, but I would have been murdered if my… the family found out who I was. They would have taken my ring and literally had me locked up."

"I'm sorry Chat." Marinette sighed. "My parents have been really kind about it, but the day is coming. They're putting in orders for sensors over my windows and my trapdoor, so I won't be able to sneak out like I used to. I imagine they're going to try and sit me down for a talk about it soon."

"They're not much they'll be able to do." Chat said. "I mean, you do have to save Paris." He tapped his fingers on the metal railing. "I probably won't reveal myself to even you for a long, long time. I used to think it would be cool to tell people, but I- I happen to know Alya from a distance and seeing how distant she's been to you and what's she's been putting on the Ladyblog, I'm really glad I didn't tell my best friends. And I trust you with my life, but…" He put his head in his hands.

"I totally get it." Marinette nodded. "And about Alya, don't worry. If she keeps this up, I'm either going to let her go and cut my burdens, or I'll knock her upside the head and we'll try and mend our friendship." She sighed. "I admit she hasn't been the most supportive as of late, but that's why I have you, right?"

"Except I haven't been around much either." Chat growled.

"I needed my space." Marinette protested. She ruffled Chat's hair. "Go home now, and don't worry about me. Nothing has to change, and you can keep your identity. Frankly, I advise you to do so." Marinette pointed down to the front of the house where chalk ladybugs had been drawn all over the sidewalk. One had been a particularly busty, vulgar drawing of her heroine version that her dad had taken to with a metal scrub brush and soap until all you could see was the remains of her mask and hair.

Chat chuckled. "Yeah," He agreed as he stood up. He took her hand and kissed it like he used to always do back before things were complicated. She giggled as he climbed up onto the railing. "No reveal tonight then." He said softly.

"Nope." Marinette giggled.

"I still love you. With or without the mask." Chat said earnestly.

Marinette's smile grew a little unsteady. "I love you too Chat. You're my partner and my friend."

Chat scoffed and rolled his eyes impishly. "You'll fall for me one day." He vowed.

"Uh huh. Keep dreaming." She told him.

"Goodnight LB."

"Goodnight Chat."

He saluted her and launched himself away. Marinette didn't wait to see where he went. She opened her trap door and plopped down onto her bed, only to see her parents sitting on her chaise. They smiled at her when she looked over at them.

"What?" She asked.

Their smiles grew.

"What?" She asked again.

"Ladynoir!" Her dad whispered loudly.

"Agh! Um, no, dad, um... it's not like that at all!" She held her hands out like she was holding the truth on a silver platter.

Tom chuckled even more childishly. "Ladynoir!" He hissed through a large smile. Sabine smiled serenely.

"One day." She said. "Now, come downstairs. It's time we talked about this mess." She stood up. Marinette smiled, which felt good since her cheeks were still a bit raw from all the crying she'd been doing for the last two months. Anyone who didn't know she was mourning the loss of her identity might have thought she was crying over being dumped or something since she'd been so dramatic.

She followed her parents downstairs, where they sat down in front of the kitchen window with the Eiffel tower glowing in the soft distance. Marinette imagined she could see Chat sitting on top, even though he'd probably gone home, and he would be too small to see anyway.

Paris was quiet. Down in the alley by her home, people painted her face onto the sidewalks. Throughout the streets, people passed her name along. Life would never be the same again, but she imagined that maybe, just maybe, peace was possible.

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